Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1887-12-02
\ Dakota Prevaricat0r.


that some disgruntlcd persons indulge
IN who have visited our Territory, a
quotation is made from a letter re-
ceived Il few days ago, by one OF our
residents, from a lady in Dakota DOT
tie RI who appears to be hating be
tween two opinions, besct as she is by
conflicting reports. She writes:
/ Now | want to ask you few questions
about your country, Some who have
gone from here write back doleiul tales.
Ihey say there is no good tiuit raised
there. Is that so: They say .Jieds are bad
| there. Is that so: They say fever and
ague are bad through ont the Territory.
Is that so: One family left here for
Mashlngtop; was gone twelve days, what
long time to know all about it, and
came back disguised. They were at Sc
attic. Tacoma and Port Townsend. They
| found some fault with every place, /
think any one who can live in Dakota, can
living at Whatcom. Husband. wrote all
this to him. In reply, he sent back a box
OF fruit--pea1s and apples, different vari
cites, all very good; but, this returned
man, declares they were never raised
there, but must have been shipped from
OiCSoH. NOW We Abll tllllh our
Mr.. Bemis. would say they were raised
there unless they were. He also says, he
had cherries, appricots, pruncs and small
fruits of all kinds in his orchard. The
longer he stays there, the better he likes
it. The weather here is very cold, and
the wind has blown perfect gale for the
last week. LoTTIE.
The STANDARD will endeavor, Lottie,
to set the matter forever at rest; for
when it was christened with the bap-
tismal name of the Great " Father OF
his country" it was just that trait OF
character for which he was remarkable
in early youth that led to the selec-
ton of that cherished appallation.
The WASHINGTON STANDARD tells the
truth at all times, and under all cir
cumstances and in this instance it will
fulfill the true intent of the aphorism,
by shaming the devil who has circu-
lated such slanderous reports concern
ing our Territory. 1t is well, Lottie,
that your letter found resting-place
in the STANDARD sanctum, or you
might never have known the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth, so help you Bob.
Those ".some who have gone from
here who write doleful tales" must be
afflicted with dyspepsia, or their livers
or torpid, or they may be color blind,
or afflicted with hypochondriasis; for
nobody in the possession of healthy
body and a clear brain would write
"doleful tales" of country in all re-
spects as favored as this. Now, in rela-
ton to fruit. Why bless your soul,
we beat the world in apples, pears,
plums, cherries and small fruit, in
quantity, size and quality. 1t was the
display of the fruit of a very limited
portion of the Territory at the first
fair held in Olympia, sent on to Jay
Cooke, the New York banker, that
expedited" the sale of Northern Pa
cific railroad bonds and rendered a
beginning of that great enterprise pos
sible. 1t is lucky for lis that your Da-
kota liar was not present, or he might
have destroyed the effect of that occu-
lar demonstration of one of our minor
resources by suggesting that the peo-
pie of Olympia may have imported
Oregon fruit to display at their own
fair.
AS to the indictment regarding
fieas, Lottie, we must plead guilty, in
part. There are fieas at Seattle, and
large ones and remarkably lively ones
too. But they are endowed with the
characteristics of the country. They
can hop higher, bite deeper and skip
quicker than any flea that can be pro-
duced east of the Rocky mountains.
The-saw dust foundation of Seattle
streets afford such congenial quarters
for the genus Pulex, that they are
scarcely known in other portions of
the Territory.
The fever-and-ague SANDER is the
worst of the lot This disease is
scarcely known in the Territory. The
few cases reported were imported ones
Qrom Oregon) and they subsidized soon
as malaria was driven from the sys-
tenn by pure sea-breezes. We do not
claim that people are never i'll and do
not die here, but the morality reports
Of the census made by government
should be regarded as very respectable
authority, and they show that Wash
ington ranks at the head of the list for
health as is shown by the percentage
of Deaths.
That Dakota family" Lottie, who
absorbed knowledge SO rapidly that
they "knew all about it" in twelve
days from the time they left Dakota,
should have come to Olympia. The
high pressure system of doing business
at Tacoma and Seattle Is calculated to
try the nerves of people accustomed to
pastoral life.
Now, Lottie, a few words more must
suffice, although we might fill columns,
with truths that might sound Nun
chausan-like to your ears. Take the
climate to-day; you and many people
east of the Rockies are shivering with
cold; the thermometer from 80 to 80
degrees below zero. Here the Cd of
December, the sun is shining brightly,
with the thermometer indicating So in
the shade; the grass is growing, the
flowers'are blooming and the prospect
is that We may possible have few
inches of snow, a week or more about
Christmas, with temperature a few
| dapraeS helow tho frooz;n,r ,,o;,t